Automotive tires are typically made in molds in tire presses. These molds are usually segmented, that is, circumferentially split into several segments. Oftentimes flashs of rubber material are formed on the tread and shoulder areas of the tire at the junction of the mold segments. Such becomes more prevalent as molds wear from repeated use.
Such flash is undesirable for several reasons. First, when the automobile manufacturer aligns the front and rear tires, any flash can cause false alignment readings. In addition, the presence of flash is aesthetically undesirable in that the user, when purchasing a tire, may not want a tire which appears defective because of the presence of flash. Thus, tire manufactures will take all steps necessary to remove any flash before shipping new tires to an automotive manufacturer or to an auto equipment retail outlet.
Currently, the removal of most flash-laden tires is done by hand. Such is obviously labor intensive and thus is time consuming and costly. The tire manufacturer often uses tire uniformity machines, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,231,428, to grind unwanted material off the treads of a tire to get rid of runout, but such machines are unable to be used to identify the location of flash on the shoulders and treads of a tire and remove such flash.
Thus, the need exists for a machine which can locate and readily remove undesirable flash from the tread area and shoulders of a tire.